“It’s critical that we understand the processes controlling carbon dioxide in our atmosphere today so we can predict how fast it will build up in the future and how quickly we’ll have to adapt to climate change,” said David Crisp, principal investigator for the OCO, according to the Guardian.

Policymakers and governments will be able to use the data gathered to inform policy on monitoring CO2 emissions and climate change. It will also help scientists solve the mysterious question of why only about 40 percent of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere stays there, while the rest of it is absorbed by oceans.

It is expected to be the first of four satellites that will be launched this year to study climate change, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory and Glory satellites, and the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 satellite.

Carbon and methane are two of six gases regulated by the Kyoto Protocol, and are thought to be largely responsible for the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide levels have been monitored on the ground for about 50 years, and the World Meteorological Organization’s World Data Center for Greenhouse Gases reported that as of last year there were about 283 observation points worldwide to monitor carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Satellites such as Gosat, which will monitor 56,000 locations on Earth from an altitude of more than 400 miles, will give scientists a better perspective from which to analyze the problem, however. “From space, we can observe the Earth almost in its entirety,” said Takashi Hamazaki, GOSAT project manager at JAXA, to the Asahi Shimbun.

“There is a growing tendency for climate change and global warming skeptics and deniers to refute the findings of scientists the world over, so any new technologies that can be used to further prove the fact that Global Warming is real and that it is being caused by humans, is worth the endeavor,” Shake wrote.

Others see the satellites as aiding another area of environmental protection. Environmental publication Plenty says data gathered by the new satellite should aid in designing carbon-trading programs. “If carbon accounting ever gets truly serious, the major players will demand fair play through accurate data and assurances that the world’s carbon dioxide is doing what we think it’s doing. These satellites represent a big step towards true carbon accountability.”

Climate change continues to be a reality as greenhouse gases contribute to global warming. A recent study has found that the southernmost continent, Antarctica, is heating up just like the rest of the globe. New satellite data has shown that on average, it warmed by 0.5 degrees Celsius between 1957 and 2006, and that the planet as a whole has warmed 0.6 degrees Celsius in 50 years.